Line #76 YMMV/TheGifted2017


1	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
2	** All of the Struckers, While some enjoy their connection to the von Strucker supervillains from the comics, the family dynamic, and powers of the kids, other viewers find themselves annoyed at the amount of screentime they get over more interesting characters, the fact they constantly have to learn the same lessons over and over, and the relatively flat performances of the teenage actors.
3	*** Of all the characters that break the base, Andy is the most controversial. Many fans sympathize with him for being bullied in the past and even sympathize with his willingness to fight and kill the enemy, but at the same time, many fans feel, despite the good points, that Andy is too brash, impulsive, and rude to harbor any kind of sympathy despite the good motives. It doesn't help that he would be a major cause in family drama later in the season.
4	** Moving off the Strucker family, the Hounds are [[WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds Woobies, Destroyers of Worlds]] with their powers and conditioning by Dr. Campbell, but the problem, as many other fans pointed out, is that they're basically FacelessMooks with powers because they have no other backstory outside of conditioning. They don't even have names.
5	* CreepyAwesome: The Frost sisters share a hive mind, alternate between speaking in unison and splitting up sentences between each other, and when they combine their powers, are strong enough to force an entire squad of Sentinel Services agents to kill themselves and each other.
6	* EnsembleDarkhorse: Sonya/Dreamer has her own little fanbase despite only appearing in a few episodes. This is due to her willingness to do anything to save people, like [[spoiler:implanting FakeMemories onto Blink to motivate her to save John and the group,]] for example. It got to the point where after [[spoiler:she was [[KilledOffForReal shot in the chest by Campbell]]]], many fans of the show have demanded a return of the character. This escalated when Creator/JamieChung, who played Blink on the show, said [[https://twitter.com/jamiechung1/status/940421175167082507 in a tweet]] that Creator/ElenaSatine, who played Sonya, was a great scene partner.
7	* EvilIsCool:
8	** With all their money and success, it's no wonder why everyone adores the Inner Circle.
9	** Rebecca Hoover, Twist, lives up to her description of a "sociopath who lives for chaos," yet she has won the hearts of many fans. It helps that her actress is among the most well-received in the young cast.
10	* FanPreferredCouple: Most fans who care about shipping prefer Marcos/Glow over Marcos/Lorna. This is due to Marcos and Glow having good chemistry and similar powers, while thinking Marcos and Lorna shouldn't be together after Lorna left to join the Inner Circle, giving Marcos a lot of grief.
11	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: [[Funny/TheGifted2017 Has its own page.]]
12	* GatewaySeries: With obscure characters like [[spoiler:[[ComicBook/XMen Fenris]]]] and [[ComicBook/PowerPack Dreamer]] being featured, many fans of the show have picked up comics where they they appeared.
13	* HarsherInHindsight: In the Season 1 finale, Lauren asks if an evacuation call is real despite it containing the phrase "This is not a drill." This was unfortunately much more understandable by the time it aired, as two days earlier there had mistakenly been a nuclear attack warning in Hawaii containing the same phrase, which took more than half an hour to be corrected.
14	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct: Sean Teale was a great choice as Eclipse, but he really got to show off his acting in "X-roads", seen when he pulls a ShutUpHannibal to one of the Frost sisters, and pleads for Lorna to [[spoiler:not destroy the plane containing Senator Montez and Dr. Campbell]].
15	* HilariousInHindsight:
16	** Since ComicBook/XMen and by extension the word "mutants" were ExiledFromContinuity from the Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse, ''Series/AgentsOfSHIELD'' resolved to instead use the word "Gifted" for any people with abilities. Now, this term is embraced by the Fox version of ''[[Film/XMenFilmSeries X-Men]]'' as well.
17	** Stephen Moyer plays a normal human who assists in the persecution of supernatural beings, when [[Series/TrueBlood his previous big TV role]] had him as one of the supernatural beings being persecuted.
18	*** Bonus points because his [[RealLifeRelative wife]] and former co-star, Creator/AnnaPaquin, previously played Rogue in the original ''X-Men'' films and ''Film/XMenDaysOfFuturePast''.
19	** Seeing Raymond J. Barry and Creator/NatalieAlynLind as heroic characters on a FOX Marvel TV show is amusing in light of them both playing villains on a FOX [[Series/{{Gotham}} DC Comics TV show.]]
20	** Josh Schwartz and Peter Gallagher, who worked together on Series/TheOC, are now [[DuelingWorks currently on two different]] Creator/{{Marvel\|Comics}} shows. Josh Schwartz has been running, [[AccidentalPun ahem]], ''Series/Runaways2017'' during the same time The Gifted has been running, though Peter joined the latter show during Season 2.
21	* IncestYayShipping: Lauren and Andy have heavy IncestSubtext.
22	** They're GenerationXerox of their ancestors, Andreas and Andrea, who it's ''heavily'' implied were a couple and had a son together.
23	** Their powers are tied to the quasi-shippy act of HoldingHands. They're a sexual metaphor -- [[PubertySuperpower awakened at puberty]]; alluring yet dangerous; something they ''can'' do alone but which is [[WonderTwinPowers much better when they do it together]]. Their power scenes are shot like romantic scenes -- time slows down, wind blows, a golden light. Many of the conversations about their superpowers could be read as conversations about a romantic relationship, if one lacked knowledge of the context.
24	--->'''Andy:''' I've been having, like, thoughts, I guess. At first it felt like I was just missing my family. Now it feels like something different. it feels like I should be with Lauren.
25	** Lorna and Marcos are their BetaCouple foil -- another couple whose superpowers can visually glow and entwine, and another couple divided on opposite sides of Season 2.
26	* JerkassWoobie: Jace Turner is actively aiding in the unfair oppression of mutants but it's hard to not understand ''why'' when you learn [[spoiler:his daughter died because of an escalation at a Pro-Mutant Rally. ''Even more so'' after Dreamer accidentally takes away the memory of losing her and he has to learn it from his wife all over again.]]
27	* MoralEventHorizon:
28	** One in the first episode: Scar hates mutants [[FreudianExcuse due to having been injured by one in the past]]. That in no way justifies [[spoiler: deliberately kicking a pregnant Lorna in the stomach with the explicit intent of trying to induce a miscarriage]].
29	** While many things Sentinel Services did prior to that were already pretty extreme, they always somewhat remained in WellIntentionedExtremist territory. This changes after John and Clarice [[spoiler:come to the latter's old foster home and find out that the innocent family was murdered by their agents]].
30	** Dr. Campbell [[spoiler:having his assistant ''give a high-ranking officer of the Department of Justice'' a stroke before she could shut down Turner's expanded surveillance. Even Turner, who had been going full-on KnightTemplar over Dreamer erasing memories of his daughter's death, [[EvenEvilHasStandards was appalled]] by the lengths Campbell is prepared to go to in order to achieve his goals]]. As if that wasn't enough, [[spoiler:he murders Dreamer]] in order to coerce Andy and Lauren into using their powers so he could measure them.
31	** [[spoiler:Esme]] takes a ''flying leap'' across the event horizon when she [[spoiler:[[PsychicAssistedSuicide psychically forces]] Agent Turner's ''entire convoy'' to murder each other so she can rescue her sisters. Especially given that the Struckers had ''finally'' [[HeelFaceDoorSlam started to get through to Agent Turner]]]]. If that wasn't enough, there is also another moment for all three sisters, namely [[spoiler: tipping off Sentinel Services, getting dozens of innocent mutants captured and possibly experimented on by Dr. Campbell, all just to lure the Mutant Underground on their side. And during the finale, she makes it clear that she is perfectly willing to harm human children too if it means getting to Campbell]].
32	** Jace Turner, for all the moral ambiguity his character had throughout the first season, firmly crosses it when he [[spoiler:tells his men to [[TakeNoPrisoners kill everyone inside the Mutant Underground base: men, women and children]]]].
33	** [[spoiler:Lorna]] arguably crosses it too. Not for the fact that she decides to kill [[spoiler:[[AssholeVictim Senator Montez and Dr. Campbell]]]], but for [[spoiler:willingly destroying an entire plane, full of people who have nothing to do with them]] to do so.
34	** Rebecca might have crossed it beforehand, but she really does it when [[spoiler:turns a room of people inside out, against the orders of the Inner Circle. And only smiles at their [[EvenEvilHasStandards horrified faces]]]].
35	** Reeva Payge's ruthlessness [[FreudianExcuse may be understandable]] given the murder of her best friend, but there's no defending the increasingly horrific measures she takes as leader of the Inner Circle, including the recruitment of serial killers to her ranks, having the leadership of the Mutant Underground killed, and the reveal that [[PlayingBothSides she has been working with]] [[PompousPoliticalPundit far-right shock jock Benedict Ryan]] and feeding him information on other mutants to relay to the Purifiers to keep a civil war going at the expense of other mutants. She reaches a new low with the latter by sending them information about [[TeamSwitzerland the Morlocks]], resulting in them either murdered by the Purifiers or evacuated by Blink, and Blink herself getting shot down before she can escape.
36	* MemeticMutation: Andy Warhol. [[labelnote:Explanation]]Andy's season 2 hairstyle reminds many people of the artist. Even Percy Hynes White acknowledges the resemblance, actually considering using Andy Warhol as a Halloween costume.[[/labelnote]]
37	* {{Narm}}:
38	** Many fans found themselves laughing when Andy rips apart the Sentinels because of his rather goofy and over the top facial expression.
39	** The entire Strucker family's extreme overreactions to Wes having done some petty theft while he was a homeless teenager, acting more like he was a serial killer.
40	** The bizarre refusal to reference Magneto by name, which can make you wonder if they actually didn't know they were allowed to.
41	*** Even more so upon an interview with Matt Nix where he said that it was done to avoid stepping into movie territory and to add a bit of a [[Literature/HarryPotter Voldemort]] vibe by not using his name.
42	*** Similarly, the refusal to ever actually delve any further than just the X-Men, when referring to them and the Underground as being chosen to help mutants by the aforementioned team is pretty narmy.
43	** The WhamShot in the Season 1 finale that [[spoiler:Polaris is now dressing ''sexy'', meaning she's evil.]]
44	** Andy's incredibly cliched "bad boy" makeover in Season 2. Basically, imagine if ''Film/SpiderMan3'' had tried to sell Emo Peter as being legitimately cool.
45	** Caitlin still holding onto her delusion that Andy was kidnapped by the Hellfire Club rather than going with them willingly is made rather harder to take seriously by the six month TimeSkip between seasons.
46	** Every single time Reeva uses her power. Between the actress' downright goofy facial expression, the simplistic visual effects, and the seriously non-intimidating sound, it never once feels like anything that should be as big a danger as it is.
47	* NarmCharm:
48	** Polaris and Eclipse's romantic moment culminating in Aurora Borealis is cheesy as all get out (particularly when Polaris makes a point to mention the magnetosphere. [[MythologyGag GET IT?!]]) but at the same time, it's quite beautiful.
49	** The first scene of the bank heist in Episode 7 of the second season has some very overblown rock music in it, that makes the entire thing cheesy, but also extremely entertaining.
50	* OlderThanTheyThink: X-Men canon has been using the term "gifted" ever since they called that academy Xavier's School for ''Gifted'' Youngsters.
51	* QuestionableCasting: Many were fine with Percy Hynes White's casting because he is a good silent actor when it comes to dramatic scenes, but his voice can come off as pretty whiney.
52	* RetroactiveRecognition: ''Franchise/{{Terminator}}'' fans would recognize Roderick Campbell as Cromartie and John Henry from ''Series/TerminatorTheSarahConnorChronicles''.
53	* RootingForTheEmpire:
54	** You're not going to find many fans on the side of Sentinel Services, however [[spoiler: the Frost sisters (who are painted in the show as very extreme, to the point of not caring about killing children) do have a lot of fans. Some were actually ''glad'' when Lorna joined their side and took out the plane carrying Dr. Campbell and Senator Montez (and the repeated reminders that there were also a lot of innocent people on the plane seem to specifically be put in because the crew was well aware no one would buy killing these two as any kind of irredeemable action). A lot of it does come from the dire situation mutants are in (at a level that's extreme, even for this franchise) and the Mutant Underground making no headway in the fight and just hiding.]]
55	** Reeva's speech from the Comic Con season 2 trailer about how trying to live peacefully with those who'd destroy you on the basis of your species won't work also sounds pretty reasonable given the above. (Also, [[EvilIsCool she's just really stylish]].)
56	** In general, many fans found themsmelves siding with the Inner Circle in Season 2, mostly because they are actually ''successful'' in what they do, while the Underground is more or less presented as [[FailureHero being ineffective in what they try to accomplish]].
57	* TheScrappy: Jace Turner. Aside from everything mentioned in UnintentionallyUnsympathetic below, people have grown bored with his repetitive story. Many have called him unnecessary and redundant now, as bigger, stronger and more interesting threats present themselves. He hasn’t gotten much better in Season 2, especially after getting involved with the Purifiers. And keep in mind all of this happened [[spoiler:before he gunned down Clarice]].
58	* SpecialEffectFailure: The first season's last few episodes apparently had a lot of last minute dialogue changes, as they're stuffed to the brim with obvious ADR.
59	%%* SpiritualSuccessor: This series owes ''a lot'' to ''Series/{{Heroes}}''.
60	* {{Squick}}:
61	** Polaris messing with the screws in Reed's knee is seriously cringe-inducing. Up to eleven when she actually rips them out.
62	** Caitlin and her children operating on Harry. Especially when they have to cut him up to remove the bullet, with blood ''pouring out of him'' shortly afterwards.
63	* StrangledByTheRedString: While Clarice and John did have a couple of moments hinting at the development of their relationship, they barely knew each other before Sonya gave Clarice memories of her own feelings for John, memories that haunted her for several more episodes. Instead of a more natural exploration of their relationship and the difference between Sonya and Clarice's feelings, the show pushed them together by having them kiss in the season one finale. By the first episode of season two, they're living together.
64	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: Some fans have this attitude with the reveal that ''Gifted'' is set in another alternate timeline like ''Legion'' pointing out that the show existing in the film universe was one of its selling points and made it unique from Legion.
65	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter: Sonya's powers combined with the hints at her background bring up interesting questions about the difficulty of doing good when your powers make even other mutants wary of you and all you want to do is help people. Instead of exploring that, as well as her close friendship with Lorna and developing one with Clarice, [[spoiler:she was killed off to spur the Struckers into using their powers]].
66	** Evangeline Whedon is presumably unceremoniously killed offscreen without her ever turning into a dragon, and with very little screentime.
67	** Sage is killed off in season 2, and was a background character for most of it.
68	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodPlot: A large part of the first few episodes revolved around the ways in which mutants face injustice and developing the metaphor of mutants as a persecuted minority outside of the idea of experimentation. That was largely abandoned later in the season.
69	** More generally, the series was advertised as being about more average mutants, without ties to the X-Men or the Brotherhood, and with powers that aren't necessarily as powerful. Later episodes began to instead focus on Lauren and Andy as some of the most powerful mutants ever seen.
70	* RescuedFromTheScrappyHeap: The Strucker family, though still divisive, gained a lot more fans after they started to pull their weight and do more to move the plot along. This is especially true for the kids, whose power dynamic made them seem more interesting.
71	* UnexpectedCharacter: It seems pretty safe to say that this isn't a show that focuses on "expected characters", so this could apply to ''anyone'' going forward.
72	** Beautiful Dreamer, renamed Dreamer, is a highly obscure character, debuting in ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' of all things. No one expected her to be in this series.
73	** Despite being [[ComicBook/DaysOfFuturePast an evil mutant hunter]], no one expected Ahab considering he is closely associated with Rachel Summers and the contemporary setting of the show.
74	** Shatter, a very minor character whose most significance was being a victim of a Sentinel attack and losing his powers in the wake of M-Day, is also an unexpected addition.
75	** The Strucker family as a whole, due to the rights of Wolfgang Von Strucker clearly being with Marvel Studios, Andrea and Andreas Von Strucker are mutants whose rights lie with Fox. The X-gene being inherited means their children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren all are potential mutants.
76	** The Season 1 finale features a cameo from [[spoiler:Evangeline Whedon, complete with a tease of her dragon form]].
77	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic: In the second episode, the Struckers started screaming at an unconscious Clarice who had just saved all of their lives because they were worried about Reed, while the mutants were justifiably wary of him and had tried to help. Caitlin then proceeded to resist helping Clarice and argue against Lauren closing the portals until Lauren convinced her to go.
78	** Really, the Struckers throughout the entire show, with their constant berating of members of the underground despite the huge amounts of help they've been given and having no experience with being on the run themselves.
79	** Jace Turner, who despite his tragic backstory [[spoiler: involving his daughter, has no qualms arresting teenagers and throwing them into prison for powers they can't control, has to be convinced that drugging and brainwashing teenagers is a bad thing, and told his men to kill everyone inside the Mutant Underground base..]]
80	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotPolitical: As usual for ''X-Men'' stories, the series can be read as a metaphor for persecuted minorities. In this case, minorities persecuted by the authorities, being denied decent health care, having difficulties finding jobs due to their appearance and ultimately falling into illegality to ensure their survival. Sounds familiar? Furthermore, the storyline of the wealthy, suburban, white Strucker family who discovers with astonishment how laws apply differently on the other side of the societal ladder, can be interpreted as a metaphor of discovering their privilege as regular humans.
81	* WTHCostumingDepartment: Andy's platinum blond hair in the second season is hard to look at without laughing.

Context YMMV / TheGifted2017